If You Believe That Charity Should Begin At Home . . .

MY WORD

November 30, 1990|By Eve Krupinski

I'm a volunteer for several local charitable organizations that focus on helping abused or ill children. I'm also 72 years old and on a fixed income. This is the time of the year when my heart aches because I do not have much more that I can contribute financially to those who are in need.

During this season, we are deluged with newspaper stories about the homeless, the needy and those without food. And outside every supermarket and department store, we are met by people with canisters who beseech us to donate our spare change, to not forget those who have been forgotten by society.

Yet I have a few questions.

Why is it that the homeless, the needy and the hungry are given so much attention at this time of the year? Where are all the folks with their canisters during the rest of the year? How come the press gives so much space to those in need during the holiday season? Don't they also need assistance or food on Veterans Day or Palm Sunday or Mother's Day?

Everyone has their favorite example of waste in the federal budget. This year, for example, Congress appropriated $500,000 to make a national shrine of sorts out of retired bandleader Lawrence Welk's birthplace in Strasburg, N.D.

Why is so much federal money wasted on such needless programs when the many charitable agencies dedicated to helping children and not receiving federal funds are forced to close their doors? And why does the public turn its back on the needs and good deeds of these agencies?

Take the so-called celebrities who appear on television fund-raisers. You know them, with their tear-filled eyes, mewling and pleading for funds for children in other countries. I say we have enough need in this country, not only for the children but for our own homeless, our own hungry and those who are ill and in need of medical attention.

Why do we not assume that ''charity should begin at home'' and expect those ''stars'' to plead for those who need help in their own state and, definitely, for those in their own country?

It's also maddening to see so many well-known people, the so-called human rights activists, cuddle a kitten or a puppy or weep over the demise of a whale or manatee, yet ignore the growing ranks of children and adults who would welcome the same loving attention that some animals receive.

Why must the future of our nation - our children - suffer for the sins of their fathers, mothers and lawmakers?

Is it any wonder we have such an abundance of angry young people who, having recognized the abandonment of their needs by many within their community, will retaliate by breaking the law?

For the sake of all concerned, for the sake of our nation and our future, I would like to see those of us in Central Florida - and the United States - direct our resources toward our own needs rather than on foreign aid, inane programs and indulging the greed or corruption of others.